Dr. Alexander Anderson Numbers was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland in 1897, to father Andrew Numbers and mother Margaret Thomson Numbers. He emigrated to Canada with his family at the age of 15 and enlisted in the army in 1916 during the Frist World War, serving in France as a stenographer for three and a half years. Coming back from the war in 1919, he spent five years attending night school at Hamilton Collegiate Institute while at the same time working as a stenographer and a bookkeeper during the day. Dr. Numbers studied medicine in the medical school at the University of Toronto from 1924 to 1930 and interned at the Hamilton General Hospital after graduation until September 1931, when he joined a practice in Ancaster and started his own business on King East a year later. During his years of medical practice, Dr. Numbers held posts as chief of medical staff at both the Hamilton Civic Hospitals and St. Peter’s Centre and was honoured by the Hamilton Academy of Medicine as one of the first two recipients of the first distinguished achievement award in recognition of his remarkable career and his leadership in developing the Academy’s archive and museum.
Dr. Numbers died in 1989.
Leonard Norris was born August 30, 1904, to father Arthur George Norris and mother Elizabeth Wooten, in London, England. Norris emigrated to Canada with his mother from England in April of 1920, where he worked on various farms in the prairies before joining the Communist Party of Canada in 1936. From July 12, 1937, Norris fought in the Spanish Civil War as part of the Mackenzie Papineau Battalion of the International Brigades. During the Spanish Civil War, Norris served at Fuentas De Ebro, Segura de los Banos, The Retreats, the Ebro Offensive, and Gandesa. Norris then contracted tuberculosis and returned home in January of 1939. He later enlisted in the army for the Second World War but was discharged after 3 months due to the progression of tuberculosis.
After the Second World War, Norris participated in various unionization efforts such as the Relief Project Workers' Union and the Canadian Labor Defence League. He was the editor for the Newsletter of the Veterans of the Mackenzie Papineau Battalion and visited Spain with the Veterans Delegation in September of 1979.
McLay Miller was born May 3rd, 1908, in Aylmer, Ontario, to father Blake Miller and mother Grace McLay. Miller spent his early and teenage years predominantly in Aylmer, but also lived in Brampton for a short time where he attended Brampton Collegiate for 2 years, before completing his final years of schooling back in Aylmer. Miller was heavily influenced to become a doctor by his family, as both his uncle (Dr. Homer Miller) and grandfather were doctors who also had lived and worked in Aylmer. After graduating high school in Aylmer, Miller applied and was accepted into the combined BA/MD program at Western University located in London, Ontario, in 1926. In 1933 Miller graduated with his combined BA/MD degree, and interned at a hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania for a year, before moving back to Aylmer. In Aylmer, Miller joined his uncle Homer at his practice, where they worked together for 15 years, before Homer Miller retired in 1948. Miller would practice medicine in Aylmer until his own retirement in 1985 at the age of 77. Miller’s post retirement days were spent with his wife Iola and enjoying hobbies such as bookbinding and photography.
McLay Miller passed away in 1996.
Harry Medovy was born in 1904 near Kiev, Russia. Emigrating to Canada with his family before his first birthday, he spent most of his life in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Medovy attended medical school at the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Medicine, earning a medal in pathology in his third year and graduating in 1928 with an MD and the Chown Gold Medal in Medicine. He then accepted a six-month chief residency at the Winnipeg Children’s Hospital, which inspired him to begin a career in pediatrics. Medovy chose to travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to complete his graduate studies. In 1930, he returned to the Children’s Hospital and took on an out-patient clinic in childhood diabetes as well as starting his own general practice as a pediatrician. In 1933, he received the Prowse Award for Medical Research for his work on diet and the diabetic child.
In 1934, Medovy married Mary Rosenblat, with whom he had two daughters. He went into academic pediatrics in 1954, becoming head of the department of pediatrics and chief pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital for the next 17 years. Additionally, Medovy held a part-time position at the City Health Department as a consultant in school health.
In 1979, Dr. Medovy’s book, A Vision Fulfilled: The Story of the Children’s Hospital of Winnipeg 1909-1973 was published. He received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Manitoba in 1975, the Canadian Paediatric Society's Alan Ross Award in 1980, and in 1990 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Harry Medovy died in 1995 at the age of 91.
The Health Sciences Archives at McMaster University has a rich history that informally began in 1973. Initially driven by concerns over the lack of official records documenting the development of the McMaster Medical School and the Health Sciences Centre, an appeal was made for relevant material from individuals and departments connected with the Medical School to be “frozen” and stored. The effort to collect these records was formalized in July 1974 with the launch of the McMaster Health Sciences Archives Project, which aimed to collect, preserve, index, record, and make available essential documents such as minutes, correspondence, and articles.
In October 1974, Joan McAuley was appointed as the first full-time archivist, tasked with collecting and sorting through material. An ad hoc Archives Committee, consisting of notable figures such as Dr. W.B. Spaulding, Dr. V.R. Neufeld, and Head Librarian Mrs. B. Robinow, supported this initiative. By March 1975, the archival collection had a dedicated area in the Technical Services area of the Health Sciences Library (HSL).
By November 1975, the Archives continued to expand, with a clerk-typist hired in January 1976 to assist with typing and cataloguing the collection, followed by a cataloguer and indexer in February 1976. The cataloguing of 105 running feet of paper was completed by April 1978, but financial constraints led to the termination of the full-time archivist position. From 1978 to 1984, archival work was maintained sporadically by a reference assistant and temporary staff, with issues of space becoming an increasing concern as material from the School of Medicine and School of Nursing continued to be transferred.
Prior to her retirement in 1982, Head Librarian Beatrix Robinow prepared a report highlighting the need for a defined mandate, qualified staff, and proper funding for the Archives. Barbara Craig, an expert consultant from the Archives of Ontario was brought on to conduct an external review and concurred with these recommendations. In December 1983, the Faculty of Health Sciences formally recognized the then ad hoc Archives Committee as a duly constituted body and endorsed a properly funded and staffed archives.
In the spring of 1984, the Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals and the Faculty of Health Sciences agreed to jointly fund an archivist position to collect and manage the records of both bodies. In January 1985, Carl Spadoni was appointed as archivist. Spadoni would implement a program to restore the provenance of records and manage record transfers. He would then oversee the move of records from the Technical Services area to the newly constructed archives storage area and adjoining office June of 1985. Spadoni would serve as archivist until the end of 1986. In 1987, Marian Bonkoff was hired as temporary archivist, and a formal agreement was signed by the Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals and the Faculty of Health Sciences, giving the archives a mandate and financially committing to the archives program. A great number of records from the Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals would be deposited at this time.
Anne McKeage would succeed Marian Bonkoff in July of 1988 as the new Archivist and History of Medicine Librarian, until her retirement in Feb of 2017. Anne McKeage would be instrumental in creating an initial database program where the archives inventory could be searched, microfilming records for preservation in case of environment disasters, and utilizing student help and volunteers to index collections and identify individuals in photo collections. Anne would also develop an access agreement with the Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals to allow use of their materials with researchers, as well as helped implement a Records Management Program. Additionally, Anne was involved in early reconciliation efforts with Inuit and their records.
From Feb 2017 to May 2018, Librarian Jack Young would provide reference assistance with the archives and was Acting Archivist/History of Medicine Librarian.
Melissa Caza would be hired as the new Health Sciences Library Archivist in July of 2018.
In 2023 Jackson Charbonneau would be hired in the new full-time position of Archives Technician to expand the work being done in the Health Sciences Archives. During this same year, Joseph Iyengar would be hired as a Project Archivist to process the Hamilton Academy of Medicine collection.